92 Decision Citation: BVA 92-22450
Y92
BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20420
DOCKET NO. 90-22 226 ) DATE
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THE ISSUE
Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the
veteran's death.
REPRESENTATION
Appellant represented by: The American Legion
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD
Thomas A. Pluta, Counsel
INTRODUCTION
The veteran had active service from December 1963 to October
1984. He died in September 1988. The appellant is his
widow. This matter came before the Board of Veterans'
Appeals (hereinafter the Board) on appeal from a February
1989 rating action of the Los Angeles, California, Regional
Office (hereinafter RO), which denied service connection for
the cause of the veteran's death. A notice of disagreement
was received in April 1989, and a statement of the case was
issued in August 1989. A substantive appeal was received in
March 1990. The appeal was received and docketed at the
Board in May and June 1990, respectively.
By decision of November 1990, the Board remanded this case
to the RO to obtain additional medical information. A
supplemental statement of the case was issued in October
1991. The appeal was again received and docketed at the
Board in January 1992. The appellant has been represented
throughout her appeal by The American Legion.
REMAND
VA has a duty to assist the appellant in the development of
facts pertinent to her claim. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(a) (1992);
38 C.F.R. § 3.103(a) (1991). The United States Court of
Veterans Appeals has held that the duty to assist the
claimant in obtaining and developing available facts and
evidence to support her claim includes obtaining private
medical records to which she has referred. Littke v.
Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 90 (1990). By decision of November
1990, the Board remanded this case to obtain additional
medical information from the UCLA Medical Center, to include
pathological reports and specimens. Although the requested
pathological reports have been received, the actual
pathological specimens (tissue blocks and/or slides) have
not been obtained. The Board is of the opinion that
obtaining all pathological specimens is necessary prior to
entering an appellate decision in this case. Accordingly,
the case is again REMANDED for the following action:
The RO should again contact the Division
of Surgical Pathology, UCLA Center for
the Health Sciences, Los Angeles,
California, 90024, and request them to
furnish all pathological specimens
(tissue blocks and/or slides) pertaining
to the veteran's melanoma and reviewed at
that facility in September and October
1986. The requested specimens should
particularly include three slides, each
labeled "S86-565" and mentioned in a UCLA
surgical pathology consultation request
dated September 5, 1986, under pathology
account number 86S-14403; other specimens
mentioned in another UCLA surgical
pathology consultation request dated
September 11, 1986, under pathology
account number 86S-08415; and another
specimen obtained on or about October 30,
1986, and described in UCLA operative
report number 153-57-21, signed by
S. D. Colquhoun, M.D., and
J. F. Huth, M.D. All material obtained
should be associated with the claims
folder.
Thereafter, all material obtained should be returned
directly to the Board for completion of appellate
consideration. No further action is required by the RO or
the appellant. The RO need not again review the claim or
issue a supplemental statement of the case.
BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20420
D. W. DATLOW, M.D. I. S. SHERMAN
C. W. SYMANSKI
(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)
Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the
Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United
States Court of Veterans Appeals. This remand is in the
nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a
decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal. 57 Fed.
Reg. 4126 (1992) (to be codified as 38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b)).